


Roll the Credits

by cherrywood



Category: Cow Chop
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bisexuality, Coming of Age, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, Recreational Drug Use, Road Trips, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-02 01:36:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10205933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrywood/pseuds/cherrywood
Summary: "The thing is, is that James Richard Wilson isn’t fucking gay.The tiny crush hemighthave on Aleks doesn’t make him gay. He still thought girls were hot. Girls at his school were hot, girls in movies were hot, girls in porn were hot.Aleks, unfortunately, was also hot. Aleks was unfortunately also not a girl, which led to his current dilemma."ten moments in which james tries to navigate his feelings while his friends fuck shit up.





	

**Author's Note:**

> theres a lot of mild homophobic language in this (they call each other gay in a teenage boy way, no slurs tho) and a little bit about drugs that can be read as kinda dubious i guess?? the ages are all fucked up too, everyone but trevor is in the same grade  
> 2016-17: sophomores  
> 2017-18: juniors  
> 2018-19: seniors

4.16.19

By the time James realizes what's happening, he’s too late to stop it. The cart crashes through the Wendy’s window and what had been a quiet night is suddenly interrupted by the alarm that starts to blare.

Aleks hops up immediately, brushing broken glass off his pants and trying to pull Trevor up by the hood of his sweatshirt, “We gotta’ go,” he hisses. His jeans are ripped at the knee from where he hit the ground, a slow trickle of blood seeps out. 

James breathes out a sigh of relief, as Trevor finally stands, though he complains about his ass hurting.

“Come on,” Aron yells, frantically motioning for them to hurry up. “Trevor, shut up and stop being a fucking baby.”

“Fuck you dude,” Trevor calls back as Joe and Aleks help him limp away from the broken window and through the parking lot. “It seriously hurts.”

Sirens begin to sound in the distance and a few homeless people watch them with some interest, but don’t interfere. “You didn’t see anything,” James tells one of them because he’s still kind of high and thinks that it might be intimidating.

The guy just snorts, waving his hand dismissively and James’ wants to say something more but Aleks is shouting at them to move their asses and Aron is grabbing his wrist and dragging him back towards the parked car.

Somehow it’s Aleks that ends up in the driver's seat, which breaks the very first rule they made before heading out, but he’s already buckled up and has the radio turned on by the time James opens the passenger door.

They don't have any time to debate about who should be driving, red and blue lights are already flashing behind them in the rearview mirror accompanied by the wailing siren. Aleks jerks the car into drive and peels out of the parking lot without any preamble or warning. 

James doesn't have time to put his seatbelt and he slams forward into the dashboard, barely avoiding hitting his head by landing on his elbows. He winces in pain and manages to grab onto the door as Aleks takes a turn too fast, “Holy shit dude, drive like a normal person,” he shouts, his arm already starting to throb. 

Aleks laughs as he takes a left onto a highway on-ramp, “Buckle-up boys,” he says in a vaguely threatening manner before gunning it, pulling in front on an eighteen-wheeler that honks loudly at them.

“We’re going to die,” Aron shouts from the back.

James partially agrees as Aleks swerves into a new lane to avoid a slower moving car.

“Who let Aleks drive?” Trevor adds, gripping onto Joe’s shirt with one hand and Aron’s shoulder with the other.

“Calm down, you fucking pussies,” Aleks finally eases up on the gas, evening out at eighty before turning cruise control on. 

“Your a fucking pussy,” Trevor mutters before yawning loudly.

Everyone’s adrenaline mellows out pretty quickly as exhaustion creeps up on them all. Trevor falls asleep first, with his head on Joe’s shoulder after Aron pushes him off of his. Joe zones out for a while, staring out the window blankly, but even he ends up nodding off.

Alek’s has the window down to keep himself awake as he drives. He hums along to the music playing through the speakers, it’s turned down quieter than usual so that it won’t wake everyone up.

He drives with his left hand on the wheel, his right lies on the center console where he unconsciously fiddles with the straw of one of the soft drinks left there. James thinks about grabbing it. He doesn’t though, he’s not sure where the boundaries lie and he doesn't want to overstep anything.

Aleks eventually pulls off the highway into one of those road stops filled with brightly lit fast food chains and gas stations. James was just starting to close his eyes, but he peeks one open to watch Aleks park the car in front of a 24/7 convenience store.

“Need me to drive?” Aron questions sleepily from the back.

“No, I’m just getting caffeine, go back to sleep,” Aleks responds, turning the key to stop the engine before turning to look at James. “Come with me?” he whispers.

James nods, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he unbuckles himself and stumbles out into the parking lot. The night is warm and clear and the parking lot is empty for the most part, save for a few other cars in front of the adjacent Taco Bell.

James trails lazily after Aleks into the store. He grabs a few more snacks as he sees them, some Hostess danish things for breakfast and a couple cans of Pringles because Aron kept complaining about how they ate them all before he could get any.

Aleks adds two Redbulls and a bag of Doritos on top of James’ things just as he’s about to pay, “Buy these for me?” He smiles, already knowing the answer.

James scoffs and shakes his head, “Freeloader,” he teases, but hands over his card to the cashier. Aleks could probably convince him to rob a bank if he tried hard enough. He’s not sure if that’s a good thing to admit, even if it’s just to himself.

“Can we take a walk?” Aleks asks, taking a sip from the can as they exit the store, the bell jingling obnoxiously behind them. His knee is still bleeding lightly and James wishes they had bought more band-aids. They ran out of the ones in the Walmart first aid kit Joe brought by the second day of the trip. 

James nods, his heart fluttering nervously for some reason. They hadn’t had time to really talk about anything yet. He grips his wallet tightly, letting it ground him. The possibility was very real that Aleks would tell him to fuck off, that everything he had said and done was a huge mistake influenced by weed and nostalgia.

They walk in silence for a bit, the sounds coming from cars on the highway seem too loud and too quiet at the same time. James takes a deep breath to calm himself, the air is different by the ocean than it is in the mountains. Fresher but not as clear, it’s a weird distinction that throws him off occasionally.

His mind wanders as he tries to be discreet about watching Aleks, who occasionally looks up and smiles at him, but doesn’t say anything.

It’s James who talks first, he’s impulsive and the not knowing is starting to get to him, “Hey man, if you want to like end this shit now we can do that,” he states as passively as he can muster. It feels like a betrayal to just give it up so easily, but it’s not like he can force Aleks to like him back.

Aleks looks confused, “What are you talking about?”

James licks his lips nervously, “Isn’t that what you wanted to talk about?”

Aleks frowns, “Do you want to end this?”

“I don’t even know what this is,” James confesses, twisting his hands in his pockets and looking at the ground. 

He has a moment of clarity where he realizes that he’s scared. He’s scared that Aleks is going to laugh at him, or that he’s going to pretend none of this happened, that when they go off to college they’ll drift apart and never be this close again. That Aleks will always be ‘the one that got away’, as stupidly cliche as it sounds. 

Aleks just sighs, kicking a can on the ground at the wall dividing the highway from the parking lot, “Is that bad enough to make you want to end it?”

“I don’t know,” James admits. “I guess I don’t know much,” he smiles ruefully.

Aleks grins cheekily at that, reaching a tentative hand out to grab James’. They stand like that for a while, the silence more comforting now.

“I’m going to remember this as the moment you finally admitted that you're a dumbass,” Aleks ruins the mood. 

James hits him in the stomach and Aleks tosses the empty Redbull can at him.

They'll be fine he realizes, they’ll always manage to be fine.

 

1.13.18

“A road trip? How fucking cliche do you think we are?” Aleks laughs as soon as Joe suggests it, managing to spill grape Fanta all over his white shirt. “Shit, someone get me napkins,” he curses as he unsuccessfully attempts to use his sweatshirt to clean it up.

James refuses to get the napkins when asked which leads Aleks to try and dump some of the soda on him. He miscalculates and it’s Trevor who ends up covered in not only Aleks’ grape soda but also Aron’s coke and James’ milk after a few minutes of chaos.

Group trips to the bathroom so that Aleks and Trevor can clean up whatever messes they’ve managed to make are becoming a common lunchtime event and James isn’t entirely sure how he should feel about that. Aron’s the only one obviously annoyed about it, and that’s only because Aleks wasted his coke.

“You guys are assholes,” Trevor bemoans as he attempts to dry his hair under the hand dryer.

“Aleks is the only asshole,” Aron responds passive-aggressively, not even looking up from his phone.

Aleks doesn’t deny it, too busy trying to get the purple stains out of his white shirt in the sink. It doesn’t seem to be going so well and he somehow manages to get water all over his pants. “Fuck it,” he finally says, obviously annoyed, before pulling the shirt over his head.

James almost chokes but manages to recover, hopefully without anyone noticing. He whistles jokingly to cover it up, “Dude, don’t just strip in front of us like that.” Keep it light so that no one will catch on to the fact that he’s avoiding looking at Aleks at all costs. Friendly banter was something he did, something normal.

“Why? You fucking gay or something?” Aleks shoots back, rolling his eyes.

“Not that being gay is a bad thing,” Joe interrupts before James can quip back.

Everyone turns to stare at him.

“Wait, are you gay?” Trevor asks dumbly.

“No, but there’s nothing wrong with being gay if anyone here is.”

James hopes that no one else notices the pointed look in his direction. He really is going to murder Joe. Stupid asshole couldn’t keep his fucking mouth shut, what kind of friend was he?

Aleks laughs, “You sound pretty gay.”

“If he was would it matter?” James questions before he can think. He’s already scared of any possible answer the second he says it.

Aleks turns to look at him, water left running over his forgotten shirt, “Nah,” is all he says.

James breathes out softly, feeling almost giddy before schooling his expression back into one of nonchalance. It still doesn’t matter in the big picture, just because Aleks wasn’t disgusted by gay people didn’t mean he would want to suck dick.

“Joe out of all of us who would you want to fuck the most?” Trevor demands suddenly, interrupting the intense moment. Then again it was just James that found it intense, no one else here had any vested interest in Aleks’ opinions on homosexuality.

“I’m not actually gay,” Joe repeated, “But probably Brett.”

James snorts, looking up and noticing Aleks watching him with slightly narrowed eyes like he was thinking hard about something. He turns away quickly, suddenly embarrassed. He was probably just overreacting, but the scrutiny made him feel slightly awkward.

Trevor looked aghast, “What? He graduated last year, and you have to pick one of _us_.”

“You just want Joe to say he would fuck you," Aron accuses good-naturedly, seemingly over his spilled soda.

The bell rings before Trevor has a chance to disagree.

James thanks God for the escape opportunity, Aleks still hasn't stopped staring at him. He doesn't even wait to walk with Joe like normal, just grabs his bag and makes a beeline for the door with a flippant goodbye to everyone. He tries not to think about Aleks inquisitive gaze following him out.

He was going to have to be more careful.

 

6.24.17

The thing is, is that James Richard Wilson isn’t fucking gay.

The tiny crush he _might_ have on Aleks doesn’t make him gay. He still thought girls were hot. Girls at his school were hot, girls in movies were hot, girls in porn were hot.

Aleks, unfortunately, was also hot. Aleks was unfortunately also not a girl, which led to his current dilemma.

At first he had managed to convince himself that it was just accepting that his best friend maybe was kind of attractive. It didn't mean he had to like him like that. It was like how Trevor had posters of Leonardo Di Caprio on his wall (James doesn’t have posters of Aleks, it’s just the only example he can think of). It didn’t mean he wanted to fuck him, just aesthetic wise his face was sort of pleasing enough to have weird dreams about.

Then James had gotten drunk and watched Russian gay porn, which led to the inevitable sexuality crisis in which he realized that he actually, maybe, did want to fuck dudes.

In a moment of weakness one night, he calls Joe.

James is pretty positive that Joe is one of the only truly good people left in the world, and though he is a shit liar, he probably won’t laugh at James in his vulnerable moments. James also tends to make bad in-the-moment decisions after drinking three glasses of cheap whiskey Brett had bought him as a half-joke for his birthday.

He answers on the third ring, which means that James has enough time to regret his choices but not to come up with a counter plan, so when Joe let out a groggy sounding hello James just lets loose and starts to rant.

His thoughts are likely impossible to follow closely, but he’s pretty sure he gets the basics out because the first thing Joe says after he’s done, in a tentative and soothing voice, is, “James, do you have a crush on Aleks?”

James hangs up the phone before he realizes what he’s doing.

 

4.13.19

“I cannot believe you actually dragged me into this,” Aleks complains from the backseat, “And you didn't even let me have shotgun.”

“You don't like sitting next to me?” Trevor asks. He’s attempting to color in a black and white picture of Shrek that James ironically printed out for him, with two slightly different yellow highlighters and a blue Sharpie that Joe had found in his car.

Aleks shoots him a look, “I don't like being within thirty feet of you.”

Trevor responds by hitting his thigh, which leads to the two of them attempting to wrestle in the admittedly small backseat area of Joe’s Acura.

“Stop!” Aron yells at them, trying to keep from getting a mistimed elbow to the face. “We literally haven't even started the trip yet how are you two already managing to make a scene?”

James laughs, content to enjoy the scene from the front seat. Joe doesn't acknowledge the struggle, too busy adjusting his mirrors and checking the glove box for the fourth time to make sure the first aid kit and the car manual are still there. Aleks likes to move stuff around just to be an asshole and Joe compensates by being annoyingly careful.

“Everyone used the bathroom?” he yells for the third time and laughs when everyone groans back at him. The car starts with a jolt and he’s backing out of the driveway and into the street.

It’s their last chance to fuck around together with all of them still in high school. They had been planning on doing the trip over summer, but Aron got into a really good early out-of-state college program and Trevor’s mom had made him sign up for an internship, so they all decided to go over spring break instead.

Aron had advocated for Las Vegas and Trevor had been pretty adamant about New York. It was Joe who suggested Los Angeles, with a quick stop in Las Vegas. Since he was the one with the car least likely to break down on a long trip they had all agreed (Trevor rather begrudgingly only after Aleks had told him how long it would actually take to drive to New York).

Las Vegas is exactly what James expected it would be. It’s a shitshow, but an entertaining one. They end up managing to find a club that lets in anyone whose eighteen after a while. Trevor manages to sneak by the security guards casually while Aron distracts them with stupid questions that eventually get him yelled at by the person next in line.

“This fucking sucks,” Trevor groans after a few hours at the club. “We should have gotten fake IDs.”

“ _You_ should have gotten a fake ID,” James tells him, he’s had no trouble getting drinks so far, no one has even carded him besides the security at the door. He’s not sure if that means he looks old or if Trevor just has bad luck.

Aron is in the same boat as Trevor, both of them are still totally sober and seemingly growing bored of the scene. Las Vegas is the kind of place that requires drinking to really enjoy fully. Joe and James are very buzzed but not quite drunk yet. Aleks is one hundred percent wasted. He’s been downing hard liquor the entire four hours they’ve been out. He actually had a fake ID, a shitty one that said his name was ‘Tomothy Cruise’, but no one had cared.

“You can still have fun without alcohol, Trevor, my man,” Aleks slurs, his second Pina Colada of the night nearly finished.

Joe had already suggested that they order him virgin ones because he probably couldn’t taste the difference and James thinks about taking the drink away or at least telling him to slow down, but he doesn’t think it would matter. Aleks is going to do what he wants. At least he doesn't get cranky with hangovers like Aron does.

“Whatever dude, I’m gonna’ go back to the hotel and smoke.”

“Jerk off,” Aron corrects.

Trevor punches him in the shoulder and Aron throws a straw at him.

“I think I'll go back too, I'm tired from all the driving,” Joe ignores the chaos and stands up from the table. “Are you staying?” he directs the question at James but Aleks yells out a ‘hell yeah’ before pounding back the rest of his Pina Colada, coughing and wincing at the cold.

“I'll watch him,” James answers. 

Joe nods and drags Trevor and Aron out of the bar, both of them still arguing.

“Watch this,” Aleks bangs his head against the table once they’ve left. “Ouch.”

James snickers, “Why did you think that was a good idea?”

“I thought the table would break and you would be impressed.”

“You impressed me with your stupidity,” James pats him on the back.

Aleks is too drunk to process what that means, so he just smiles dopily and tries to stand up.

“Where are you going?” James asks as he clumsily tries to push in his chair.

“The restroom,” Aleks drags out the ‘s’ sound, “And I’m not going to eat the soap at all. Not even a little bit.”

James doesn’t know what that means, but he figures not eating the soap is better than eating the soap, so he lets Aleks stumble his way across the dancefloor because of course, he would walk right through it instead of going around it. 

He heads to the bar to get a glass of water. He doesn’t want to try and take Aleks back to the hotel without either of them sobering up a little bit first.

The bartender looks overwhelmed with a few loud customers screaming in what sounds like French, but she still smiles kindly as James approaches, “Your friend enjoy the Pina Coladas?” she asks brightly, ignoring a drunk man’s incessant yells for more ice from down the bar.

James is slightly concerned that she recognizes him as Aleks’ friend, that usually doesn’t bode well, but she doesn’t seem to be visibly annoyed with him so maybe Aleks had behaved himself for once. “Too much,” he answers with a grin. “Can I just get two glasses of water?”

“Sure thing hon’, two glasses of water coming right up,” she moves away just as another man approaches the bar. He’s wearing tight red leather pants and a navy blue netted shirt, which wouldn’t look good on even the most attractive person in the world. It’s just James’ luck that he stands uncomfortably close to him, their thighs brush against each other before James’ can shift away.

James doesn’t really recognize him per se, but he feels like he’s seen his face before somewhere. He isn’t handsome enough to be a model or actor, so he's not sure where. He ignores him for now, he might just be drunk enough to not realize how close he was standing to him and it was just an honest mistake.

“Your drinks,” the bartender places two glasses down and turns to the newcomer, “What can I getcha’ sir?”

“Screwdriver,” he responds flippantly. “Oh, and babe, make the vodka top-shelf, or at least as ‘top-shelf’ as this establishment has,” he uses air quotes and James has to look away and cough to hold back his laughter.

She bites her lips and shoots James an exasperated look, which he returns with a sympathetic frown.

“You look lonely,” the guy says after she leaves. His voice is scratchy and dry like he smokes four packs a day.

James doesn’t meet his eyes, keeping his voice monotone and disinterested as he took a sip of water and scanned the club for any signs of Aleks, “No, actually I’m good.”

“‘The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved.’”

James can’t hold back a snort, “Excuse me?”

“Mother Teresa,” the guy grins lopsidedly, James notices that he has a gap in between his front teeth. Other than that his smile is perfect, glaringly white in the blacklight. There is something predatory in the way he holds himself. He’s taller than James by at least a couple inches, and he stands straight and over-confident.

Instinctively James grabs his drink from the bar and holds it closer to himself. He’s not sure if you can even drug water, but he’s not willing to take any chances.

“Screwdriver,” the bartender returns, slamming the drink down none-to-gently. “Armadale top-shelf enough for you, _babe_?” 

“It’s fine,” the man puts a fifty on the table. “Pay for his drinks, and then keep the change,” he instructs.

She rolls her eyes but takes the money.

“What’s your name?” the guy presses on after realizing that James wasn’t going to spark a conversation after a minute of silence.

James almost tells him that he’s dating someone, but he’s not sure if the guy will take it as a challenge and become even more annoying, “Nova,” he answers instead without thinking. It’s his stupid gamertag, not the greatest lie he’s ever told.

Apparently not the worst, the guy doesn’t question it, “Wow that’s so exotic,” he purrs.

James has to bite his lip to keep from laughing, he’s pretty sure if he goes anywhere but bored, the guy will take it as encouragement. 

He starts to talk again, about his trip to Costa Rica or something, but Aleks is suddenly beside them, interrupting him as he leans against James’ shoulder and snakes a hand around his waist, “Who the fuck is this guy?” he questions lightly. He’s smiling, but there is a glint in his eyes that James isn’t quite sure what to make of.

James is very aware of the physical contact between the two of them, his heart begins to speed up in his chest. It’s not unusual for them to touch, but Aleks is being extra, most likely on purpose, leaning into him and resting his mouth right by James’ ear.

The guy grits his teeth as he watches them, “Who the fuck are you?” he shoots back, flirty tone replaced with annoyance as he glares at Aleks.

“I asked first you asshole. Come on, let’s go,” Aleks’ grabs James arm and tries to pull him away from the bar, but the guy steps in front of them, “Stop following me you piece of shit,” Aleks scowls.

The guy scoffs, “No one is following you, I’m just trying to have a nice conversation with Nova here.”

Aleks starts to laugh, “Who?”

The guys sighs patronizingly and gives James an annoyed look as if he expects him to be frustrated with Aleks like he was, “This isn’t any of your business, just walk away.”

Aleks laughs at that, “Yeah I bet you’d like to watch me walk away fucking creep.”

“Sorry, I don’t do twinks,” the guy shoots back nastily, sneering down at Aleks. James clenches his fists, suddenly annoyed at this motherfucker who seems incapable of taking a hint, but Aleks beats him to the punch, so to speak.

“Twink?” he hisses, “You’re calling me a twink? You fucking Spiderman porn reject. You think ‘cause you wear red leather pants you’re fucking cool? We all know they’re your mom’s you fucking Norman Bates looking ass.”

James can’t help but snort, that’s why the guy had seemed so familiar, he looked kind of like an uglier Anthony Perkins. Same hairstyle and long nose.

The guy glares even harder, but doesn’t give up, “Is he your friend or something?” he asks James directly as Aleks continues to drunkenly rant about Psycho.

James is about to nod but Aleks interrupts him, “Fuck you, what if I’m his fucking boyfriend?” 

James clears his throat in surprise. Aleks probably drunkenly assumed that the best way to get this guy to leave them alone was to make it seem like James was taken already. It didn’t mean anything.

The guy scoffs, but looks a bit put-off for the first time, “Where were you then, you ditch your partner at clubs often?”

“ _Partner_ ,” Aleks mocks, “I was in the bathroom you pretentious piece of shit.”

The bartender is watching the confrontation now. She raises her eyebrows and cocks her head in concern as James makes eye contact with her. James just rolls his eyes and shrugs, which makes her smile and turn away to keep taking care of other customers, though she hovers nearby.

James turns back to Aleks and the other guy just in time to see Aleks land a solid punch right in the guy’s stomach. He stumbles backward with a surprised look on his face. Aleks moves after him but he continues to back away in shock. 

James grabs Aleks’ arms and tries to pull him back. Security is en route already, shoving past the crowds of people now surrounding them and James really doesn’t want to spend the night in a jail cell so he drags Aleks behind him as tries to maneuver out of the club, avoiding the guards. He’s impressed that they make it to the door, but Aleks’ isn’t really fighting his hold, he's using all his energy to yell insults. 

“By the way, your ugly-ass botox makes you look like a burn victim, fire your doctor,” he shouts as James drags him out onto the street, grimacing apologetically at the confused looking bartender, who smiles and shakes her head before the door closes behind him.

“Dude, chill,” he admonishes as Aleks continues to shout curses and insults once they make it outside, even though there is no way the guy can still hear him. “Shut up so I can get a taxi, you look crazy and it’s scaring them all away.”

Aleks finally stops yelling, though he does mutter a few things more expletives under his breath.

A taxi finally stops and James pulls Aleks in, grunting at the effort, “Fuck dude why are you so heavy?” he mumbles before giving the address of the hotel to the driver.

“It’s all my muscles,” Aleks grumbles, leaning his head on James' shoulder and closing his eyes, “I would have beat him in a fight if he wasn’t such a pussy.”

“I’m sure,” James reassures him, patting his hair awkwardly.

Aleks hums and closes his eyes. The taxi driver chuckles at them but doesn't say anything, which James is going to show his gratitude for by giving a large tip. He hums softly as Aleks drifts in and out of consciousness, occasionally grumbling something about Alfred Hitchcock.

Aleks eventually falls asleep on his shoulder and James isn’t even mad that he has to practically carry him back up to his room. 

 

6.2.18

When Aleks’ bottle spin lands on James the room gets quiet for a second before erupting into chaotic cheering. Phones are out almost immediately, ready to snap pictures that are definitely going to end up on Instagram and Snapchat.

Aleks is looking at the bottle like it murdered his grandmother. A slight blush dots along his cheeks, which makes James unbelievably conscious of how nice his cheekbones are.

James stands up from where he’s sitting before he can get caught up in the logistics and wipes the sweat from his hands onto his jeans. Better to act like this wasn’t a big deal and do it fast so that he could spend the rest of the night getting drunk enough to forget it happened, “Fine, whatever, let's just get this over with,” he attempts to act like it isn't a big deal while his heart attempts to jackhammer its way through his chest.

It occurs to him that he might unconsciously be taking advantage of the situation, this could be the moment of truth. If he kisses Aleks and feels nothing then it will prove that he’s not gay, or at least that he doesn’t have a crush on him. He’s not sure what he is going to do if kissing Aleks feels good, he can’t really prepare himself for that. 

Aleks frowns as James gets closer, “You’re gay?” he finally asks, it’s a joke but James feels his heart bottom out for a second.

“No,” he pushes Aleks away. “Dude it’s just a game.”

The girls around them coo and awe, one of them, he thinks her name is Tiffany, wraps a hand around James’ arm and tries to convince him that it isn't really gay to kiss your best friend, “I kiss Maddy all the time,” she promises. Her lipstick is smudged on her teeth, James almost points it out to her, but he can't decide if she would take offense to it or not.

Joe looks ready to jump in and stop the game, which James is somewhat grateful for, but he's not sure how that would go down without causing a huge scene. No one else had backed out yet, not even Aron who had complained endlessly about having to kiss Trevor before giving him a light peck on the cheek.

Besides, it’s already turning into a bigger ordeal than he really wants it to be. He’s not sure why everyone in the room is so invested in him and Aleks kissing. Even people that aren’t playing the game are watching inently. Some are laughing, others are smirking, and a few look excited, which is just fucking weird. Maybe he should back out? The fucking audience is starting to get to him.

Then Aleks is rolling his eyes and pulling him closer. The kiss is on the lips, but it’s soft and chaste and tastes like peppermint Smirnoff. It’s over in a second, Aleks pulls away and smirks at the room, leaving James to deal with a speeding heart and flushing cheeks. 

Okay, the crush on Aleks was definitely a thing. 

“No, you didn’t warn me, I didn’t get a picture,” Maddy shrieks. “You have to go again.”

James is still reeling but he recovers quickly enough to tease Aleks and keep up appearances, “Now who’s fucking gay,” he says loud enough for the room to hear. It’s met with raucous laughter and jeers.

Aleks never answers. 

 

4.15.19

“If you want to fuck Leonardo Di Caprio, then you’re fuckin’ gay dude,” Aleks argues, taking a drag before handing the joint over to Aron. “Or at least bi or something like that.”

“No, if you’re doing the fucking than it’s not really gay,” Trevor insists earnestly, adjusting the pillows so that he can sit up straighter.

James snorts at Trevor’s misinformation, but before he can make fun of him Aleks is already starting back up, “That’s not how it works, it’s still a dude you’re having sex with, no matter who's doing the fucking,” he flips himself onto his stomach so that he can look at Trevor.

“Does that mean you wouldn’t let Leonardo Di Caprio fuck you?” Aron muses quietly, mostly to himself.

Trevor either doesn’t hear him or chooses to ignore him, “No but I’m like not into dudes, it’s just if a young Leonardo Di Caprio appeared in front of me and wanted to have sex, I wouldn’t say no.”

“You think if Di Caprio suddenly got young again he would want to fuck you?” James pulls his knees up into a more comfortable position. He wishes he had just sat on the bed with the rest of them, this fucking armchair isn’t comfortable at all.

Trevor frowns, “It’s a hypothetical situation dumbass, it doesn’t have to be real.”

James gets up and raises his hand threateningly. Trevor scoots backward off the bed, “Shit,” he yelps after hitting the ground.

James laughs at him, stealing his spot on the bed before he can get back up.

Trevor pouts but doesn't complain. He grabs a pillow from Aron so that he can sit on the ground and lean against the wall, “Fuck you,” he mutters, James flips him off.

Aleks isn’t willing to let the gay thing go, “Okay here’s a hypothetical situation: a dude that looks exactly like ‘Titanic’ Leonardo Di Caprio appears in front of you and wants to fuck, do you say no?”

“No.”

“So you would have sex with a guy that looks like Leonardo Di Caprio?” Aleks confirms.

“Young Leonardo Di Caprio,” Trevor corrects.

“But it's not actually him, it's just a random dude, so you would be having sex with a random dude, so you would like dudes.”

Trevor sighs, “Fine, whatever dude you win.”

Aleks smirks victoriously, “Sweet, pass me the joint.”

The doorknob jiggles suddenly and everyone turns to look at it with wide eyes.

Aleks shoves the joint over to James, who throws it at Trevor, who kicks it under the bed. There’s a strict no-smoking rule at the hotel, and in retrospect leaving the window wide open probably wasn’t the best idea, the whole street can probably smell it and the room still stinks even with the circulation.

James mentally tries to figure out if they have enough money for another hotel once they get kicked out of this one. It’s Aleks, Trevor, and Aron’s room, maybe he and Joe will get to keep theirs.

“Guys come on, I don’t have the key card for this room, can you open the door,” Joe calls out. “I brought Pizza.”

Aron starts to laugh, “You paranoid pieces of shit,” he clambers off the bed so that he can let Joe in.

“Trevor, why did you drop the weed?” Aleks complains as he crawls on James' legs so that he can grab it back from under the bed. “Where did it go?”

“It’s gone dude, fell apart,” Trevor sounds genuinely sad, Joe sits next to him on the ground and feeds him a bite of pizza while patting his arm comfortingly. 

“Pick it up, we don’t want to forget about,” Aron chimes in.

“We should give it a funeral,” Aleks adds.

“Shut up,” James tells him.

He expects Aleks to crawl back to the spot in the center that he had been sitting in previously, but Aron hops on the bed and sprawls out, taking up all the room, so Aleks just stays draped over James’ legs.

It isn’t a big deal, shouldn't be a big deal. They’re friends, but Aleks’ face is really close to James’ crotch and it’s sending some very conflicting feelings that are fairly unpleasant considering the time and place.

He hops up, pushing Aleks off of him, “I’m going to,” he struggles to find an excuse for his sudden bizarre behavior, “Check out the pool,” he finally gets out.

Aleks stares at him in confusion and Joe raises his eyebrows, but no one stops him from leaving.

“Alright man but the pizza is gonna’ be gone,” Trevor says.

“Whatever,” James closes the door and runs a hand over his hair. He just needs a moment to breathe, to get away from Aleks and the feelings that were supposed to be buried so far under male friendship and no-homo jokes that it was impossible for them to reappear.

His crush on Aleks is getting out of hand, he’s going to have to deal with it at some point, but today is not the day for that. Today he is going to sit by the pool for a few minutes and when to he goes back to the room he's going to blame the weed for being bad and making him act abnormally and sit on the uncomfortable armchair as far away from Aleks as possible.

 

10.31.16

James’ mom gives them a ride to Aron’s house for Halloween because Aron lives in one of those gated communities that give out king size candy bars, and even though they’re kind of old to be trick-or-treating, the allure of giant Kit Kats and Milky Ways makes any possible embarrassment seem worth it.

Unfortunately, they aren’t the only group of kids with the same idea, and by the time they get there it’s already packed with tricker-treaters. James’ mom can’t even drive them all the way in like she normally would, all the kids running around in black costumes make her nervous so she kicks them out at the gate and makes them walk the rest of the way. They can’t even ring any doorbells on their way over, Joe insists that it would make them bad friends and Aleks says it would be stupid to just have three of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Aron’s parents are both out with his younger sister and her friends, so they have to wait with him until they get back and can take over answering the door, but they did buy two pepperoni pizzas (and one black olive for Joe) so James isn’t too annoyed. They all hang out on the couch playing Mario Kart and arguing about dumb shit. Aron complains about their costumes being stupid and Aleks tackles him, followed by James joining in and eventually even Joe.

By the time they’re actually able to head out it's already nine, and Aleks keeps complaining about how there's not going to be any more candy for them because according to him American kids are greedy dirtbags who always grabbed more than one even when there were signs.

The first house they stop at proves him wrong. Aron’s neighbors recognize him and give out two king size Milky Ways to everyone, improving the mood immensely.

They move quickly after that, trying to get everywhere before people start to turn their lights off.

At around 10:30 it’s finally the time of night when people get tired and just leave the leftovers out on the porch for teenagers to scavenge. The first house’s basket is empty, which gives Aleks more to complain about. James starts to agree with him as every other house afterward is just as barren.

They find the culprit at the fifth house. A tall kid in a fuzzy black suit is dumping the basket into his pillow sheet.

“Hey,” Aleks shouts at him. “Fucking share, you asshole,” he adds something in Russian under his breath but James doesn't bother to ask for a translation, he can make an educated guess.

The kid whips around, looking guilty for a second before he realizes that they aren’t adults, “Sorry, you want some?” he holds out the pillowcase, and hell if James isn’t going to accept free candy.

Aleks still looks pissed off, but he follows the rest of them in grabbing a few handfuls.

“Thanks dude,” James smiles brightly, shaking his bag.

The kid smiles back, “No problem man, I didn’t think anyone else was going to be out this late.”

“I like your costume,” Aleks tells him, slightly mockingly. “Are you King Kong?”

Trevor shakes his head and shrugs, “Just a gorilla.”

“That’s cool dude,” Joe encourages.

“You should have carried a banana,” Aron adds. “And worn the mask.”

“I got the mask confiscated at school,” Trevor explains.

“Ms. Thompson?” James questioned, Trevor nodded. “I hate that bitch,” James finished.

“What's your name?” Joe asks in between mouthfuls of Butterfinger. He’s one of those people that eats his candy as he gets it, instead of waiting until they got home and trade like civilized humans.

“Trevor, what about you guys?”

“I'm James, that's Aron, Aleks, and Joe,” James introduces them.

Aleks is the only one who refuses to shake hands, but Trevor doesn't look too upset, “Do they not shake hands in Russia?” he asks innocently.

Aleks frowns in confusion, “What?”

“You're the Russian kid, right?” Trevor starts to look embarrassed. “Sorry, my ambassador kept pointing you out, he said you were from Russia.”

“You're a freshman,” Aron looks surprised. “I thought you were just a tall middle schooler.”

“Wait, why do people point me out to freshmen?” Aleks yells, “That’s fucking weird.”

“It’s ‘cause you’re cool,” Joe reassures.

“He forced us to go as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Halloween, he’s like the opposite of cool.” Aron grumbles, backing away and mouthing sorry as Aleks glares at him.

“But Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are cool,” Trevor remarks, James doesn’t even think he’s kidding.

Aleks looks suspicious, “Which one is your favorite?”

“Leonardo, who else?”

Aleks breaks out into a bright smile, “I know right, he’s got two katanas. What’s cooler than that?”

“Not a fucking bo staff,” Trevor and Aleks both laugh.

James is slightly lost but he’s pretty sure he’s the turtle with the bo staff, so he feels compelled to shove Aleks backward, which divulges into the two of them attempting to have a karate fight with neither of them knowing jack shit about karate.

“Can we not do this every time?” Aron gripes, pulling Trevor away just as Aleks loses his footing and goes toppling into the bushes.

“Motherufucker,” he groans, standing up slowly before wiping off the dirt and leaves stuck to him. 

“Purple is king,” James shouts triumphantly, holding out his arms to show off the foam muscles built in the costume

Aleks sticks his tongue out just as a dog starts to bark at them, followed by a man stepping out onto the patio in a bathrobe and slippers. He shouts angrily at them and they end up sprinting out of the cul-de-sac and back to Aron’s house in record speed. 

The lights are out and the door is locked, but Aron pulls the spare key out from under the mat and lets everyone in. Aleks’ grabs water bottles from the cupboard and tosses one to all of them, withholding James’ for a bit before throwing it at his head. 

James manages to catch it anyways, and plops down on the couch to load up the Xbox before remembering that Trevor is there.

“Hey you want to spend the night?” he asks on a whim. They’ll have to take turns at Mario Kart and Aron’s parents might be a little confused in the morning, but he doesn’t think anyone will really mind too much.

Trevor brightens up, “Sure, I only live a few houses away so let me go tell my mom.”

“Great, more nerds in my house,” Aron mutters, looking anything but annoyed.

 

10.12.18

Asher looks like he would rather be anywhere else but here, which is weird because it is his party, but James kind of agrees with him.

The party is lame, to put it simply. The beer is cheap and warm and everyone is either so drunk that they’re throwing up, or so sober that they’re boring. James really would rather go home and play Mario Kart or something, but he’s lost sight of Aron and Joe, and he’s their designated driver.

The asshole part of him says to just ditch them, but he fights back the urge. Doing that would basically be asking for some kind of retaliation from Aron, and Joe would probably lecture him about being a good friend and remind him that no one had ever left him alone and drunk at a party with no way home which would make him feel guilty.

He’s been chilling with Asher, whose girlfriend made him throw the party but disappeared to hang with her friends. It’s not bad, he likes Asher, but it still isn’t how he would really like to spend his Friday night.

Aleks is talking to a girl across the room. She’s a pretty brunette, average height, athletically thin, wide frame hipster glasses, James’ thinks she is from a different school but isn’t positive. He would feel jealous, but Aleks looks uncomfortable, so whatever she is saying must not have been doing it for him.

James was about to be a good friend and excuse himself to go and save him, when Trevor literally stumbles into him, almost hitting his head on the counter before James can help right him.

“Holy shit dude,” James curses as Trevor starts to lean forward the second he lets go. “What’s got you so fucked up?”

“I don’t know, meth,” Trevor replies, words thick like his tongue is too heavy to speak.

James takes a second to process before his breath catches “What the fuck dude? Who gave you meth, I’m going to fucking kill them.”

Trevor laughs, “It’s a joke man,” he drags out the syllables. “Just a funny, man.”

“Damn, kid got fucked up.”

James manages to turn to glare at the newcomer while still supporting Trevor’s weight, Asher helps moves to help, looking as confused as James feels. 

A man with obviously dyed blond hair and a patchy attempt at a mustache that James has never seen before smiles at them somewhat sympathetically, but his overall sleazy nature ruined whatever good-natured act he was going for.

“What did you give him?” James growls, not in the mood for any preamble. 

The guy puts his hands up and steps back mockingly, “Woah, calm down tough guy. Just some edibles,” he shrugs. “I told him not to take as many as he did, but he said he couldn’t feel it. That’s the thing about edibles, you don’t feel it at first, you gotta’ give it some time.”

James wants to punch him, he really does, but Aleks is starting to head towards them, looking bewildered and Trevor is slumping over even with Asher and him trying to keep him up.

“What the fuck is wrong with him?” Aleks motions towards Trevor and looks expectantly at the blonde guy.

“I ate weed Aleks,” Trevor smiles dreamily and drapes himself over James’ shoulder.

“This motherfucker gave him a whole bunch of edibles,” Asher translates. “Dude who even are you? Were you invited?”

The guy does look old upon closer look, at least a college kid. Definitely not a high schooler, or at least not one in his first attempt to graduate.

He scoffs, “Invited? Sorry I didn’t realize you needed a signed letter from the president to attend this lame party,” he shrugs again, not losing the smirk. “I’ll leave as soon as he pays me for the shit I gave him.”

James almost loses it then. He knows he has a temper, and nothing gets it flared up more than someone trying to fuck with his friends. This sleazy motherfucker could find someone else to extort, Trevor was off limits.

It’s Aleks that holds him back, miraculously managing to physically block James from decking the dude. It’s actually kind of impressive, Aleks could be lifted off the ground by Joe’s mom still, and James was on the goddamn wrestling team. 

The stupid drug-dealing-piece-of-shit chuckles at the scene, which doesn’t help defuse the situation at all.

Aron and Joe make it over to them, twin concerned looks on their faces. Aron helps Asher hold Trevor while Joe grabs James’ shoulder with Aleks to prevent James from lashing out.

“Your friends are fucking losers Aleks,” the guy scoffs, rolling his eyes exaggeratedly. “Call me when you need anything, you can pay up his tab too,” and then he’s turning around and leaving, grabbing an unopened can of beer from a baffled girl’s hand on his way out the door, like a true asshole.

James doesn’t bother hiding the shock on his face. Since when did Aleks know creepy drug dealers?

“You knew that guy?” Joe is the first to ask, turning to look at Aleks after letting go of James’ arm once the guy was out of sight.

Aleks frowns, “Aren’t there more important matters to deal with right now?” he answers testily, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.

James wants to argue, but Trevor starts to sing what sounds like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song, drawing everyone’s attention back to him. Asher adjusts his grip and between him and James, they manage to drag Trevor out to Aleks’ car.

“You can get home okay?” Aron asks. “Do want one of us to come with you?”

James had forgotten that Trevor was spending the night at Aleks’ house. Trevor’s mom would freak out if he came home drunk and Aleks’ parents were out of town. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now the prospect of Aleks being alone to deal with a very high Trevor made him nervous. 

“It’s fine,” Aleks says with obvious annoyance twinging his words. “I’ve got him.”

And it’s not that James doesn’t trust Aleks, but something about this entire situation makes his skin crawl. If he and Asher together can barely get Trevor to move, how is Aleks going to do it by himself? He doesn’t want to leave Aleks alone to deal with Trevor, and he doesn’t want to leave Trevor alone with just Aleks to deal with him.

Plus there’s that whole thing about Aleks being on a first-name-basis with the douchebag who started the whole mess, which is just making everything weird.

“Too bad, we’re coming too,” he states firmly, making up his mind.

“All of us?” Aron groans, Joe elbows him in the side.

Aleks looks visibly pissed off, “Dude I’ve dealt with drunk Trevor before, this really isn’t a big deal.” 

James almost gave up, not wanting to get into an argument, then Trevor shouts, making everyone jump.

“What?” Aron yells back at him.

“There are spiders on your face,” Trevor informs him solemnly.

Aron pats his face, just in case, then shoots a look at James, “Yeah Aleks we should probably come too. It's not you, it's him.”

“Sleepover,” Joe adds.

Aleks scoffs, “Whatever, are you gonna’ drive your car or do you want a ride?” he relents.

James is thankful it ends there, Aleks could be a stubborn son of a bitch sometimes.

James turns to look at Asher, “Can I leave my car here overnight?”

Asher shrugs, “Yeah man I don’t care, good luck with,” he pauses, than waves a hand at Trevor who is playing with the window, making it go up and down. “That,” he finishes vaguely.

Aleks rolls his eyes again as they all pile into his Corolla. They don’t fit very well, especially with Trevor managing to take two spaces, but Joe and Aron are small and manage to cram themselves into the back, on either side of him trying to keep him steady because he refuses to put on a seatbelt.

Aleks’ house is only fifteen minutes away. By the time he pulls into his own driveway and kills the engine, Trevor is asleep, head in Aron’s lap who had begrudgingly adjusted his seat belt so that the metal part won’t dig into his cheek.

They manage to lug him inside, James and Joe carrying him while Aleks held open doors and Aron brought in their bags.

"Just put him on my bed I guess," Aleks says, locking the front door behind him and leading them all into his room.

Aron nearly trips on a textbook that on the ground, and his yelp wakes up Trevor, "Are we in hell?" he asks groggily.

"Shut up and go back to sleep you asshole," Aleks mutters, picking things up from his floor and tossing them into the closet.

"Okay," Trevor agrees, closing his eyes again, "I like your Transformers sheets," he mumbles and Aleks throws a sock at him.

"I'm going to take a shower, you guys can fight over who gets to sleep on the couch," he grabs a pair of sweats from a stack of folded laundry sitting on top of his dresser. "Please don't do anything stupid."

Aron waits for Aleks to close the door behind him before speaking, "I'm not sleeping on that piece of shit couch, or the floor."

Trevor pats the bed, “Join me in hell,” he says. 

Aron looks to Joe first, then James, before shrugging and climbing onto the bed, “Special circumstances make this totally heterosexual,” he informs them. “Trevor stop hogging the covers.” 

James laughs, searching through Aleks’ messy drawers for a pair of clean sweatpants. He hates sleeping in jeans, and it’s not like Aleks had never stolen his clothes. When he finally finds a pair that seem to have been recently washed, Joe has joined Aron and Trevor on the bed, all three of them take up most of it. 

Luckily Aleks has a queen, so there’s barely enough room for James’ to climb over them and situate himself against the wall. He pulls up his phone and looks up hangover remedies until Aleks opens the door. 

James expects him to be mad and kick them all out, but he just sighs heavily, “You know I haven't washed my sheets in months,” he says tiredly before shoving Joe’s sleeping form out of the way so he can fit on the bed too, “Also this whole sharing my bed thing is fucking gay.”

James laughs quietly, Aleks’ hair is still wet and it’s making the bedspread damp, “You’re fucking gay.” He thinks for a second, “Hey, how did you know that guy who gave him the edibles?”

“I’m tired,” Aleks answers, voice muffled by the pillow.

James frowns but decides not to push it.

Later, just as he’s starting to drift off he feels Aleks shift and whisper, “Thank you,” just quiet enough that only James, who's the closest to him would be able to hear it. 

James smiles to himself but otherwise doesn’t acknowledge it, not wanting to embarrass him.

 

4.16.19

James is high as a kite and that’s his first mistake. He doesn’t smoke very often, but everyone else was doing it so he had taken a few hits, not thinking much of it. Trevor had brought some fucking high-quality shit for the occasion and a few hits were all it took for him to be feeling way to loose.

Luckily he’s not the only one, they’re all pretty fucked up. Aron falls asleep almost immediately, so they leave him in the car with the windows rolled down as they attempt to climb down a fucking cliff so that they could reach the ocean.

Within minutes of reaching the ground, Trevor is already complaining about being hungry so he and Joe make the treacherous climb back up to go to the Taco Bell down the street, leaving James and Aleks alone.

The second mistake of the night is when he allows Aleks to convince him to strip down to his boxers and go swimming. The water is fucking cold, which makes sense in retrospect seeing as they’re still in Northern California, and both of them are shivering within seconds. They dash back up to where they dumped their clothes, using their jeans to dry themselves off.

His third mistake is when he opens his mouth, his teeth chatter insistently but he still manages to tell Aleks that he has pretty eyes, which is not a very straight bro thing to say. He could use the weed excuse, but honestly, it was more than that. Aleks’ eyes glow under the moon, shining in a cliche way that makes James’ stomach twist up in knots and his hands get clammy.

Aleks squints, which means he’s trying to find the right words to use to tell James off for being fucking gay. Except he doesn’t, “Yeah?” he mumbles in response, gaze flickering from James’ eyes down to his lips.

Which is weird. But James is high, on the marijuana, but also the soft rumbles of the ocean as it rolls onto the beach, and the taste of salt he can’t seem to get rid of no matter how much water he steals from Joe’s red water bottle.

And then they’re kissing. Which is either the worst or best mistake of the night, James can’t decide in the moment. His mind is preoccupied with the feel of Aleks’ lips on his own. They’re chapped and cold and taste like Red Bull, salt, and alcohol. It’s obvious that neither of them really know what they’re doing, James keeps his hands hanging awkwardly by his sides.

Despite all this it’s still the best thing James has ever experienced in his eighteen years of life. 

“You’re gay?” he breathes out after Aleks pulls away, a nervous look on his face.

Aleks is head-strong and abrasive. If he does something he doesn’t normally regret it, refuses to admit when he’s made a mistake. Nervous is not a word James would use to describe him in most cases, not since he was the new kid at school.

And Aleks frowns at that, “No,” he says, lips twisting, and James feels dread burn in his stomach, which is so fucking stupid. He should have known better, he’s ruined their friendship forever now that Aleks knows about his stupid crush. “But I think I like you anyways.”

“Oh,” is all James can get out. Not wanting to let the moment pass due to his inability to speak, he reaches over and strokes Aleks’ cheek before he thinks about what he’s doing.

Aleks immediately starts to laugh at him, “That was so fucking Jordin Sparks,” he pushes him away, jokingly gagging.

“We’re friends kissing on a beach after going to school together for four years, and that’s the part you think is cheesy?”

Aleks scrunches up his face in embarrassment as if the moment has just caught up to him. James leans in to kiss him again, still unsure if it’s the right thing to do, but willing to take the risk.

“Did you know there was a set of stairs we can take down instead of climbing down a fucking mountain?” Trevor yells suddenly from behind them. “Oh shit, were you two making out?”

“No,” James coughs, pulling away abruptly and trying to act natural.

“Finally,” Aron claps his hands slowly before turning to Trevor and Joe. “You both owe me thirty bucks.”

“I just spent all my money on tacos and weed for everyone,” Trevor complains, pulling out a poorly wrapped taco and tossing it at Aleks who catches it with one hand.

He looks mildly abashed but mostly amused, “Did you guys have a bet going for if James and I would kiss?” he question lightly with an amused grin as he unwraps the food.

“When,” Aron corrects. “Those two thought it wouldn’t happen until college, but I had more faith in James.”

“Did you not have faith in me?” Aleks complains.

Aron thinks for a second, “No, not really, you’re kind of a pussy.”

Trevor plops himself down on the sand beside Aleks, “Couldn’t you have waited two months longer to save me thirty dollars?” he laments while trying to balance the Taco Bell bag on his knees.

Joe looks the most apologetic of the three. He smiles encouragingly at James, which is what finally kicks him out of his stupor, “You guys know that you are assholes right?” he reaches over to grab one of the tacos.

Aron shrugs, “You two were pretty obvious.”

Aleks makes a face, “How?”

“Aron please I need your help, I think I’m in love with James--”

Aron was interrupted by Aleks attempting to tackle him, “Oh my god shut up I told you that in confidence you asshole.”

“You got sand in the Taco Bell!” Trevor yelled, pushing the bag aside so he can hit Aleks’

James allows himself a small smile, this wasn’t how he expected the night to go, but he feels content. Joe looks over at him and grins, “Congratulations dude, I was rooting for you.”

“You bet money on me not being able to do anything until college,” James reminds him, but he can’t help but grin back.

Joe snorts, “Sorry for not having faith in you, it was the drunken phone calls that tripped me up, made you seem a lot lamer than you really are.”

“Yeah man, whatever,” James watches as Aleks drags Aron into the water.

“You’ve got stars in your eyes,” Trevor says suddenly. “Fucking romantic loser-- oh shit wait, I’m sorry!”

James laughs loudly as grabs him by the hood and drags him to the surf, the bag of tacos falls into the sand. Trevor struggles and protests and almost gets away but Aleks notices and helps hold his arms as James manages to lift him up enough to toss him into the ocean. He comes up spluttering and flips them both off, but is quickly distracted by Aron throwing kelp at him.

Joe manages to sneak up on him in the moment and shoves him forward. He ends up bowling over Trevor just as he attempts to run away from Aron, and both all three of them crash back into the water.

“Truce?” Aleks asks warily on the shore, keeping Joe at a safe distance, but when Joe reaches out to shake his hand he shoves him into the water before running back to where their clothes are, “Sike, dumb bitch!” he shouts.

When Joe comes back up he meets James eyes, “Weird that Aleks is the only one not in the water,” he says, shaking his hair out and standing up and a devious look in his eye.

“Pretty abnormal,” Aron agrees. “Someone should fix that.”

Everyone turned to look at James.

“Don’t look at me, I just got used to the temperature.”

“Pussy,” Trevor tells him, standing up to do it himself.

Aleks sees him coming and tries to back away, “Wait, this isn’t fair, I’m wearing shoes Trevor!” he shouts as Trevor sprints forward and grabs a hold of his arm, yanking him towards the water.

James laughs as Aleks let’s out a high-pitched shriek. He struggles desperately as Trevor manages lifts him up and physically carries him deeper into the waves, “Dude wait, I just put my shirt back on. My jeans were just starting to dry come on man--” Trevor finally drops him and he goes under with a splash. When he comes back up, he immediately tries to splash them, “My hoodie is wet now,” he whines.

“So is Joe’s, and Aron’s,” James points out, “Whose fault is that?”

Aleks flips him off and crawls out of the water, laying on his back in the sand.

“You guys ate all my tacos,” Trevor yells at them from where their clothes are. He shakes the empty bag to emphasize his point, “I’m still hungry.”

“What?” Aron complains. “I didn’t even get one, you guys never save me any food.”

“We can stop somewhere later,” Joe reassures as he shakes the sand out of his hair and tries to squeeze the water out of his sweatshirt. “Let’s get back to the car before we die of fucking pneumonia.”

James holds out a hand to help Aleks up from where he is sitting in the shallow water.

Aleks doesn’t let go of it the entire walk back to the car.

 

8.12.16

James has no particular interest in the school gossip, but even he had heard about the new kid, it was almost impossible not to. Their high school was one of those filled with kids who had lived in the same house for their entire lives and known each other since preschool, so any change in the monotony was a pretty big deal.

He’s still caught off guard when two minutes after the late bell rings, a kid he’s never seen before saunters in with a forced grin and no late pass.

Ms. Thompson raises an eyebrow as she glares at him, “Aleksandr?” She asks in her shrill voice that still grates on James’ nerves no matter how many times he has to hear it.

“Aleks,” The kid corrects, messing around with the strings on his hoodie.

“Are you aware that there is a bell that denotes what time you must arrive at your classes, Aleksandr?” Ms. Thompson sniffs patronizingly, lifting her nose and gazing down at Aleks with a sneer.

“I got lost,” Aleks explains in surprisingly unaccented English. “Sorry.”

Ms. Thompson hums dismissively, “I’ll let you off this time, but I expect that you learn from your mistakes. Do you have an introduction for yourself or something?”

James expected her to berate the poor kid for longer, but maybe even she felt bad about yelling at someone new for not being able to navigate the admittedly complicated hallways of their school.

Aleks nods, turning to face the class. His eyes catch James’s and his stomach suddenly jumps up to his chest, but then he's looking away at the rest of the class and opening his mouth to speak, “I’m Aleks, from Russia but I speak English so you don’t have to talk slow. I like video games and I do track.”

The class choruses back a hello at Ms. Thompson prompting, and Aleks moves to find a seat. Of course he chooses the open one directly in front of James, and of course, they have to be doing group work.

James isn’t against meeting the new kid, he’s just not sure what to do with new people. He’s a product of his environment, a small town in which changes were scary and abnormal. 

It’s turns out alright though, James ends up doing most of the work because Aleks has never read The Outsiders and the rest of the group are pieces of shit that don’t really care because they know James will do it for them. Surprisingly Aleks manages to be more helpful than them anyways, he uses James book to find quotes he thinks might be relevant and googles the plot on his phone when Ms. Thompson isn’t looking.

The final product isn’t great, but it will probably get them at least a C, maybe a B if Ms. Thompson isn’t being a bitch, but she’s always being a bitch so James doesn’t expect much there. All in all the period was actually pretty okay in James’ book, he’s used to doing everything on his own while his group sleeps or fucks off to the bathroom for the entire forty minutes, so having someone to talk to was nice.

And Aleks seemed like a pretty cool guy, he really did like video games and his music taste was kind of shitty, but it wasn’t ska, which Joe had unfortunately been into recently, so James could forgive him.

When the bell rings Aleks smiles at him and hands back the book he borrowed, their fingers brush against each other and James chooses to ignore the bubbly feeling he gets from the small amount of contact.

“Hey, if you have time would you mind showing me Mr, Grecco’s biology class is if it isn’t a hassle? This school is so big,” Aleks laughs sheepishly and plays with the strings on his hoodie again. James is beginning to think he does that when he's nervous.

“Yeah dude, I’m pretty sure my friend is in that class actually,” Aron always complained about not having a lab partner, he should introduce them, “Look for the Asian kid with glasses and tell him your James’ friend.”

“I feel like that’s something someone would say to me if they were going to get me to buy drugs from a sleazy middleman,” Aleks jokes, holding the door open for James.

James blushes slightly, thankful that he had gotten a tan working at the pool all summer so that no one could tell when his cheeks got red, “Aron probably does sell drugs now that I think about it.”

Aleks laughs at that and James’ heart clenches, which was really fucking weird and slightly terrifying. Something is definitely wrong, his hands are clammy and his cheeks feel red as Aleks follows him out into the hallway. James stands there stupidly for a second as kids rush around them, trying to take deep breaths. It was like he was about to give a presentation but somehow better. There’s something warm in his chest instead of cold, he’s not really sure what to make of it.

There’s nothing he can do about it, he’ll google the symptoms later and see what horrible life-threatening disease WebMD says he has. For now, he’ll just show Aleks the science quad, then go to History and act normal.

(By the time he realizes what’s happening, he’s too late to stop it.)

**Author's Note:**

> i couldn't find a way to fit in anna or brett :^(


End file.
